chengxiang 丞相, Counsellor-in-chief

The chengxiang 丞相, translated as "Counsellor-in-chief" (literally "administrative aide"), was the highest-ranking advisor to the emperors and head of the central government during the Qin 秦 (221-206 BCE), Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) and Three Empires 三國 (220-280 CE) periods. It was often replaced by the archaic titles dazai 大宰 "Grand Steward", zhongzai 冢宰 "Minister of State" or zaixiang 宰相 "Grand Counsellor", which originally designated the chief official of the central government of the Zhou dynasty 周 (11th cent.-221 BCE, see political system of the Zhou).

The regional state of Qin 秦 was the first to establish the offices of the left and the right Counsellors-in-chief (zuo chengxiang 左丞相, you chengxiang 右丞相, collectively called zuo-you chengxiang 左右丞相). These posts, however, were not always filled, and some influential figures dominated the position of Chief Counsellor alone as "counsellor of the state" (xiangbang 相邦), such as Wei Ran 魏冉 (Marquis Rang 穰侯) or Lü Buwei 呂不韋 (d. 253 BCE). The Han dynasty inherited the administrative system of the Qin empire, but the solitary office of one Counsellor-in-chief was much more regularised. The founder of the dynasty, Han Gaozu 漢高祖 (r. 206-195 BCE), for instance, appointed Xiao He 蕭何 (d. 193 BCE) as "counsellor of the state" (xiangguo 相國). He was succeeded by Cao Shen 曹參 (d. 190 BCE). It was only during the reign of Emperor Hui 漢惠帝 (r. 195-188) and the regency of Empress Dowager Lü 呂太后 (r. 188-180 BCE) that two counsellors were appointed. Each of the princedoms (wangguo 王國) was administered by a staff headed by a Counsellor-in-chief. In order to avoid confusion and to downgrade the status of the princedoms, Emperor Jing 漢景帝 (r. 157-141 BCE) renamed this office xiang 相 "administrator" or "manager", while the title chengxiang was reserved for the central government.

For important political decisions, matters were not dominated by the Counsellor alone but were discussed by several high officials. For ordinary affairs, the Counsellor had the right to decide and draft an edict, or even to criticise an edict issued by the emperor. The Counsellor had the right to use the administrative apparatus of the central and local governments, to recommend individuals for promotion, to investigate local officials, and to initiate their promotion, dismissal, or punishment. He was the leading figure in the administration and in penal law, and oversaw all jurisdictional matters. The Counsellor had to maintain peace across the empire's regions and was entrusted with pacifying troubled local commanderies. He was in charge of military matters and border defence, and had to oversee the compilation of household and tax registers throughout the empire.

The official rank of the Counsellor-in-chief was determined by his nominal annual salary of 10,000 bushels (shi 石) of grain, yet his factual monthly salary was 350 fivepecks (hu 斛) of rice and 60,000 copper cash (qian 錢).

During the Former Han period the Counsellors-in-chief were assisted by the Censor-in-chief (yushi dafu 御史大夫), who served effectively as the Vice Counsellor. The Counsellor's direct aides comprised two senior clerks (zhangshi 長史), several junior clerks (shaoshi 少史) and a verifier (zhengshi 徵事). The office of the Counsellor-in-chief was divided into several bureaus, including the Western Section (xicao 西曹), Eastern Section (dongcao 東曹), Memorials Section (zoucao 奏曹), Accounts Section (jicao 集曹) and the Consultation Section (yicao 議曹), each headed by an administrator (yuanshi 掾史). In 118 BCE, the office of Rectifier (sizhi 司直) was added, giving the Counsellor-in-chief greater control over the various state officials and the power to punish them for corruption or misconduct.

At the beginning of the Han period, the Counsellors were eminent men who had helped found the dynasty and were therefore highly venerated, wielding considerable influence over political decisions that often ran counter to the emperor’s plans. Wang Ling 王陵 (d. 180 BCE), for instance, warned Empress Dowager Lü not to ennoble her kinsmen (waiqi 外戚) as princes. Zhou Yafu 周亞夫 (d. 143 BCE) opposed in 145 BCE the ennoblement of Wang Xin 王信 as a marquis (hou 侯) and the deposing of Prince Li 栗太子 (160-148 BCE) as Heir Apparent. Gongsun Hong 公孫弘 (200-121 BCE) was the first Counsellor to be invested as marquis concurrently, and this became the custom thereafter. Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE) gradually altered the personal structure of the central administration and relied less on the political advice of his Counsellor. Quite a few Counsellors serving under him, such as Xue Ze 薛澤 (end of term 124 BCE), Zhao Zhou 趙周 (d. 112 BCE), Zhuang Qingdi 莊青翟 (d. 115 BCE), Shi Qing 石慶 (d. 103 BCE) or Tian Qianqiu 田千秋 (d. 77 BCE), were not strong figures and had no political influence at all. In the late years of his reign, Emperor Wu relied on the advice of Huo Guang who occupied the newly created position of General-in-chief serving as Commander-in-chief (dasima dajiangjun 大司馬大將軍). The Minister of War (da sima 大司馬) thus occupied, in practice, a higher position than the Counsellor-in-chief.

Until the end of the Former Han period, this situation remained largely unchanged. The informal office of the General-in-chief, serving as Commander-in-chief was often held by kinsmen of imperial consorts. Counsellors with a sense of responsibility for the dynasty, such as Wei Xuancheng 韋玄成 (d. 36 BCE) or Kuang Heng 匡衡 (end of term 29 BCE), were virtually powerless against the destructive influence of the Generals-in-chief. During the reign of Emperor Cheng 漢成帝 (r. 33-7 BCE), He Wu 何武 (d. 3 BCE) proposed splitting the office of the Counsellor into three distinct sections, each with specific tasks, to relieve the administrative burden on the Counsellor. The office of Counsellor thus became one of the Three Dukes (sangong 三公), the other "Dukes" being the Censor-in-chief (yushi dafu, then called da sikong 大司空 "Minister of Works") and the Minister of War. During the reign of Emperor Ai 漢哀帝 (r. 7-1 BCE), the office of the Counsellor was renamed to "Minister of Education" (da situ 大司徒).

At the beginning of the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220 CE), the offices of the Three Dukes were renamed situ 司徒 (the former chengxiang "Counsellor"), sikong 司空 (the former yushi dafu "Censor") and taiwei 太尉 (the former sima "Minister of War"). The latter was the most important and most powerful office among the Three Dukes, yet these three offices gradually became mere titles, while the tasks formerly managed by the Counsellor’s bureaus were now taken over by the Imperial Secretariat (shangshusheng 尚書省). Real power at that time was wielded by the relatives of the imperial consorts and the Empresses Dowager (as regents) and by the eunuch cliques.

This situation changed only at the very end of the Later Han period, when the powerful warlords Dong Zhuo 董卓 (d. 192 CE) and Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220 CE) occupied the office of Counsellor-in-chief. Cao Cao restored this office, as well as that of the Censor-in-chief. The difference from the Former Han period was that the Counsellor-in-chief effectively served as an informal regent for a weak emperor. Powerful figures of the Wei 曹魏 (220-265), Jin 晉 (265-420) and Southern Dynasties 南朝 (420~589) periods continued to make use of the office of Counsellor.

During the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Song 宋 (960-1279) periods, the titles of left or right chengxiang were sometimes applied to the vice directors (puye 僕射) of the Imperial Secretariat (zhongshusheng) or the Palace Secretariat (zhongshusheng 中書省). While the titles of director of the secretariat (shangshuling 尚書令, zhongshuling 中書令) were largely nominal, these counsellors held the real power within the secretariats.

During the early years of the Ming period 明 (1368-1644), no directors were appointed. The Hongwu Emperor 洪武帝 (r. 1368-1398) then abolished the secretariats altogether and later replaced them with the Grand Secretariat (neige 內閣). This also marked the end of the title of chengxiang.